Tampa Bay Buccanneers Run All Over Carolina, Win 46-23 on the Road

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers outscored the Carolina Panthers 23-6 in the second half as quarterback Tom Brady threw for over 300 yards and three touchdowns on the way to a 46-23 road win on Sunday.

Bucs’ running back Ronald Jones rushed for a career-high 192 yards and as he scored the longest offensive touchdown in team history, a 98-yard run with 7:39 left in the third quarter.

All week long, Tampa Bay head coach Bruce Arians was asked about his team’s struggle to convert on third down, but on Sunday the Bucs had success on the critical down. The Bucs converted 10-of-16 third downs, a big turnaround from last week when the team converted only one third down vs. the New Orleans Saints.

A week after setting an NFL record for fewest rushing attempts in a game with just five, Bucs’ offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich turned back to the run game relying on Jones heavily and Leonard Fornette as the team rushed the ball 37 times for over 200 total yards.

At one point, the Buccaneers scored 22 unanswered points over the course of the second and third quarters.

Following Jones’ historic touchdown, linebacker Jason Pierre-Paul read the eyes of Panthers’ quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and came up with an interception. Tampa Bay kicker Ryan Succop made a 21-yard field goal giving the Bucs a 12 point lead entering the fourth quarter.

The 46-23 final is the first time in NFL history that a game ended with such a final score. It's the 1,060th unique final score in league history, according to NFL Scorigami on Twitter.

Panthers’ head coach Matt Rhule decided to fake a punt early in the fourth quarter, but the Bucs weren’t fooled. Special teams player and receiver Justin Watson brought down Carolina punter Joseph Charlton in the backfield, Tampa Bay was once again held out of the end zone as Succop made his fourth field goal of the game.

Carolina responded on the ensuing kickoff as Trenton Cannon returned the ball for 98 yards. A couple of plays later, Bridgewater walked in for a three-yard rushing touchdown.

Tampa Bay didn’t let up as Brady led the team down the field and capped off the drive with a one-yard rushing touchdown of his own. After the Panthers turned the ball over on downs, Brady threw his third touchdown of the afternoon finding tight end Rob Gronkowski for the seven-yard pass.

In the end, five different Buccaneers scored a touchdown as the offense was well-balanced throughout the game. Tampa Bay threw the ball 39 times while running the ball 37 times.

Defensively, Pierre-Paul added to his team-leading sack total, which now stands at 7.5 sacks on the season. Linebacker Shaquil Barrett recorded his five sack of the season as well.

The teams went back and forth throughout the first half as both quarterbacks were highly-efficient. After starting a perfect 10-for-10, Bridgewater finished the first half throwing 111 yards on 14-of-17 passing and two touchdowns. Meanwhile, Brady was 16-of-21 for 181 yards and two touchdowns as well.

On the Bucs’ opening drive, Carolina linebacker Shaq Thompson punched the ball out of the hands of running back Ronald Jones, who fumbled for the second time in three games. Tampa Bay had a chance to get off the field after getting a stop on third down, but the Panthers converted on 4th and 3. Bridgewater found a wide-open Colin Thompson for a seven-yard touchdown pass.

The Bucs had a much more solid second drive after Jones fumbled to open the game. Brady stepped up in the pocket on 3rd and 7 as the pressure came and somehow found Chris Godwin, who spun around to make the catch for the first down. Cameron Brate caught his second touchdown of the season on a five-yard pass from Brady tying the game at seven.

Godwin finished the game with 6 catches and led the team with 92 receiving yards.

Carolina then took a 14-7 lead near the end of the first quarter and went 75 yards in just four plays, in large part due to a rainbow pass from Bridgewater to D.J. Moore for 38 yards. A few plays later, Moore caught a screen pass from Bridgewater and broke free for a 21-yard touchdown.

Looking to tie the game again, Brady and the Bucs marched down the field again. Fournette had success running the ball against the Panthers, including a 26-yard rush. However, the Panthers were able to keep Tampa out of the end zone as Brady looked for Mike Evans on third and goal, but the pass fell incomplete. Ryan Succop hit a 23-yard field goal with 10:03 left in the second quarter.

Carolina responded with three points of their own as Joey Sly nailed a 46-yard field goal. With less than four minutes left in the first half, Brady found Godwin in traffic on 3rd and 10, then a play later Brady connected with Brown for 16 yards. Picking up 44 yards on the catch, Rob Gronkowski blew past Carolina rookie Jeremy Chinn and set up the Bucs inside the red zone.

Brady appeared to throw the ball high to Evans, but the 6-foot-5 receiver hauled in the three-yard pass toe-tapping his way in the back of the end zone.

Evans finished the game with six total catches for 77 yards and one touchdown.

Despite a late push to move the ball with less than 30 seconds in the first half and no timeouts, the Panthers were unable to score and the game was tied at 17 entering halftime.

Up next, Tampa Bay (7-3) returns home to host the Los Angeles Rams in primetime next Monday night on ESPN.